Is your God omnipetent? and other questions.

[XatuGravelz]

[bible]The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots. - Judges 1:19 [/bible]

This would mean he is not omnipotent. Any explanations? This would also point out a biblical contradiction:


[bible]
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." -Mathew 19:26[/bible]

I would also like to ask about the branches of Christianity: Why so many? If there are this many interpretations of Christianity, how can we be certain Christianity is true?

Third of all, Mithra:
[FONT=Times, Times New Roman, Serif][SIZE=+1][FONT=Times, Times New Roman, Serif][SIZE=+0]Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25th in a cave, and his birth was attended by shepherds.
He was considered a great traveling teacher and master.
He had 12 companions or disciples.
Mithra's followers were promised immortality.
He performed miracles.
As the "great bull of the Sun," Mithra sacrificed himself for world peace.
He was buried in a tomb and after three days rose again.
His resurrection was celebrated every year.
He was called "the Good Shepherd" and identified with both the Lamb and the Lion.
He was considered the "Way, the Truth and the Light," and the "Logos," "Redeemer," "Savior" and "Messiah."
His sacred day was Sunday, the "Lord's Day," hundreds of years before the appearance of Christ.
Mithra had his principal festival of what was later to become Easter.
His religion had a eucharist or "Lord's Supper," at which Mithra said, "He who shall not eat of my body nor drink of my blood so that he may be one with me and I with him, shall not be saved."
"His annual sacrifice is the passover of the Magi, a symbolical atonement or pledge of moral and physical regeneration."
Shmuel Golding is quoted as saying that 1 Cor. 10:4 is "identical words to those found in the Mithraic scriptures, except that the name Mithra is used instead of Christ."

And on a less serious note, what did Jesus look like? The Bible says it is a shame for a man to have long hair.

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[XatuGravelz]

Anyways, I'm heading to a restaurant to eat. I'll be back.

 

[drich0150]

This would mean he is not omnipotent. Any explanations?

So in 19 God is with the men of Judah, God being with these men doesn't always mean that the will of the man/men he is with, will be what God wants.. I read this verse and understand it to mean that God was with these men to restrain them not to lead them to victory. So it was God's will that they loose to the people of the hills..

That being the case it would dispel your following example of contradiction.

I would also like to ask about the branches of Christianity: Why so many? If there are this many interpretations of Christianity, how can we be certain Christianity is true?

To allow different people to live, love and worship God in a manor they or their culture feel most comfortable with.

There is not one single, "Right way' to worship Jesus.. Any and all Jesus Christ centered religions provide an opportunity for a membership into the true body of believers.. Now all religions worshiping Jesus have basically the same basic opportunities, and pit falls.. Meaning you will find God/Jesus if you search for him with all of you heart, mind and spirit no matter which denomination or non denomination you choose.. In doing so you will be able to start and develop a personal relationship with God.. This places you in the true body of believers.

Now if you go to church just to attend. Jesus Christ centered or not, the chances of a person never finding Jesus and becoming a member of the body of believers is equally guaranteed. The risk of worshiping the tools the Holy Spirit has left for us to Find God is also a fatal trap that alot of us fall into.. So Worshiping your method of worship or tradition, rather than who that worship is supposed to be direct to, is a negative universal trait of all religion...

So basically, All Jesus Christ centered religions Lead to God, but at the same time All of them can also lead to hell. It's a matter of Why you do, not how you do it.

 

[drich0150]

Third of all, Mithra:

I have researched "Mithra" and I can not find any of the specifics you have left.. I did find some vague similarities but nothing to your specs..

Most of the similarities you have listed are not all complete truths about Jesus.

Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25th in a cave, and his birth was attended by shepherds.

Jesus wasn't born on December 25, it is a day the early church pick in order to help assimilate recent converts into christianity. The winter solicits is around that time and some people just weren't ready to give up there traditions, so the church set up an equally important day in order for the new converts to have something not "blasphemous" to celebrate.

He had 12 companions or disciples.

Jesus had many disciples but 12 core members.

Mithra's followers were promised immortality.

We are promised death, and then a resurrection.

As the "great bull of the Sun," Mithra sacrificed himself for world peace.

Jesus came to divide as outlined in luke 12:
49"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! 51Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
He ultimately died to justify your sins to a righteous God. Nothing to do with world peace.

His resurrection was celebrated every year.

Until the 2nd possibly the 3rd century this wasn't a holiday.. Our official celebration takes place during communion. For some once a week for others once a day, and others still once or twice a year.

His sacred day was Sunday, the "Lord's Day," hundreds of years before the appearance of Christ.

Whether we hold one day special over another we are to do it to the Lord. But we have no commands to hold any day special.. The only reason Christian church was held on the first day of the week rather than the sabbath, It was not to interfere or to become a stumbling block with those who still held the sabbath sacred. This principle can be found in Romans 14: 5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Mithra had his principal festival of what was later to become Easter.

There are many shared traditions found in what we now know as easter.. This was the Catholic Church's way of trying to appease many of the "new" followers of the christian religion. (Kinda like the Christmas/Halloween thing)But the actual day can be determined to be 3days after the Jewish pass over.. (passover was established long before your claims of Miritha)

His religion had a eucharist or "Lord's Supper," at which Mithra said, "He who shall not eat of my body nor drink of my blood so that he may be one with me and I with him, shall not be saved."

"His annual sacrifice is the passover of the Magi, a symbolical atonement or pledge of moral and physical regeneration."
Shmuel Golding is quoted as saying that 1 Cor. 10:4 is "identical words to those found in the Mithraic scriptures, except that the name Mithra is used instead of Christ."

I'll have to take your word here and in the other places I did not respond to because all my research couldn't verify or contradict your claims.

And on a less serious note, what did Jesus look like? The Bible says it is a shame for a man to have long hair.

It really doesn't matter what he "looks like" the love and sacrifice are the same..

And on a side request where does the bible say a man is not to have long hair?

 

[arunma]

XatuGravelz, "he" in Judges 1:19 most likely refers to Judah rather than God. In fact this is assumed in translations such as the NIV. Does that clear things up for you?

 

[LogosRhema]

So why are you splitting hairs?

God can lead man, but man is no where near capable of instantaneously being in different places, so if men who were being led by God into battle on foot and the enemy has chariots... for one its a miracle they weren't slaughtered... chariots were the tank of their century. And can man outrun horses?

Its easy to deny truth in your head if you attempt to split hairs... but thats just it... its all in your head.

 

[solarwave]

Third of all, Mithra:

Christianity wouldn't need to borrow any of the things says about Jesus from a pagan religion because is already has these things prophesied about in the Old Testament. So on this logic since Judaism is older than these pagan religions they must have borrowed their teachings from Judaism. Also the writers of the New Testament were eyewitnesses or were directed by eyewitnesses, so they were just recording history so there is no need for making things up.

Also the writers of the New Testament were Jews and so had a strong dislike for pagan religions and so wouldn't use ideas from those religions, what reason would they have to? Why would they lie just to gain great persecution, hardships, ridicule, arrest, beatings, and I think all the disciples except one were killed for what they taught about Jesus.

 

[aiki]

xatugravelz:

Your list of similarities between Christ and Mithra are very similar to a list I found on the Tektonic site dealing with this issue.

Here is a link to a thorough debunking of the assertion that Christianity borrowed from Mithraism with a particular focus upon the list you've given:

http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.html

I would also like to ask about the branches of Christianity: Why so many?

Why so many football teams in the NFL? Why so many wrestling federations? Why so many different karate schools? Why so many different kinds of airplanes? You answer these questions and you'll have something of answer to your question above.

If there are this many interpretations of Christianity, how can we be certain Christianity is true?

Does the fact that there are many different types of airplane mean the principles of flight are not true? No. In spite of their differences, all airplanes rely on the same basic set of principles and physical laws in order to fly. So, too, the different denominations found within Christianity all rest upon the same basic set of truths laid out in the Bible.

Peace.

 

[ebia]

Is your God omnipetent

Omnipotence is a greek and somewhat self contradictory concept. I would prefer to stick to the more poetic and narrative attempts to talk about the power of God we find in the bible. In particular we find the power of God most fully revealed in a young Jewish peasant speaking out against the evil of the world, being taken to the cross and executed for doing so, and thereby defeating that evil.

I would also like to ask about the branches of Christianity: Why so many? If there are this many interpretations of Christianity, how can we be certain Christianity is true?

Ask any group of people to describe something complex of which they have only partial understanding and of course they will say slightly different things. Christianity is a Way, not a set of right answers to be memorised; the bible a narrative to be grappled with, not a set of simple statements to be rote-learned. Sorry, but you can't determine whether something is true by whether everyone who holds to it agrees on all the detail.

Third of all, Mithra:

There's an awful lot of rot posted making supposed comparisons between certain mythical people and Jesus. Most of them aren't even accurate, but even to the extent that they choose a few superficial similarities and ignore the actual significant stuff at both the detail and big picture level. In the case of most of those dealing with "Mithra" they are pretty close to being outright hoaxes. If you want to see where the symbols of the gospels come from you need to read the Old Testament, not manipulated versions of greek myths. But most importantly the New Testament writers weren't describing something that happened to a mythical person "a long, long time ago in a land far, far away", but to someone they or other members of their community had walked with in real places, in real time, just a few decades before. That's starkly different from the kind of mythical writing one finds in most other religions (and, indeed, in some parts of the O.T.). It puts the Christian claim firmly in (potentially falsifiable) history in a way virtually no other religion does - the central Christian claim isn't a set of timeless truths (like Islam or Buddism) nor a-historical stories (like paganism) but a claim that one particular (real) person rose from the dead on one particular (real) day in one particular (real) town and is therefore, Lord of all.